FIVE HUNDRED 

PRACTICAL QUESTIONS 
,nV IN ECONOMICS 

P , V^ FOR USE IN 

^ ^^ SECONDARY SCHOOLS 

A SPECIAL COMMITTEE OF THE 

NEW ENGLAND HISTORY TEACHERS' 

ASSOCIATION 

WiNTHROP TiRRELL, Chairman 

High School of Commerce, Boston 

Edmund Ezra Day 

Harvard University 

Horace Kidger 

HB 1 ' *• Technical High School, Newton 

.5 Thomas Hugh Henry Knight 

^54 Girls' High School, Boston 

C«I»V ^ Margaret McGill 

i Classical High School, Newton 

Sara Henry Stites 

Simmons College 



D. C. HEATH & CO, PUBLISHERS 
BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO 



FIVE HUNDRED 

PRACTICAL QUESTIONS 
IN ECONOMICS 

FOR USE IN 

SECONDARY SCHOOLS 



BY 

A SPECIAL COMMITTEE OF THE 

NEW ENGLAND HISTORY TEACHERS' 

ASSOCIATION 

WiNTHROP TiRRELL, Chairman 

High School of Commerce, Boston 

Edmund Ezra Day 

Harvard University 

Horace Kidger 

Technical High School, Newton 

Thomas Hugh Henry Knight 

Girls' High School, Boston 

.Margaret McGill 

Classical High School, Newton 

Sara Henry Stites 

Simmons College 



D. C. HEATH & CO., PUBLISHERS 

BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO 



H 1517 1 
■5" 



Copyright, 1916, 
By D. C. Heath & Co. 

I H 6 




SEP 18 1916 



'CI.A438396 



PREFACE 

This book of problems is the resuh of an attempt on the 
part of a committee of the New England History Teachers' 
Association to do something of a practical nature to make the 
teaching of economics in secondary schools more profitable 
and enjoyable to both teacher and pupil. 

The problems are arranged in two parts : the first four hun- 
dred are grouped under special divisions of economic theory, 
and are intended for use as these subjects are being studied 
in the textbook; the remaining one hundred "miscellaneous" 
problems are intended especially for review work and exam- 
inations. Any teacher can, of course, make his own selection 
of problems, choosing those which seem to him best suited 
to his particular group of pupils. Most of the problems have 
been framed or adapted by the members of the committee 
from their own experience in teaching economics. The 
problems contributed by Professor Day have already been 
published in a problem book for college use entitled: Ques- 
tions on the Principles of Economics, by Professor Edmund 
E. Day and Dr. Joseph S. Davis of Harvard University. 
These problems are indicated in the text by the letter (D). 

In the few other instances in which problems are taken 
direct from known sources, the fact is indicated by appro- 
priate letters as follows: 

(F) indicates Fisher's Suggested Problems for Teachers, and 
(C) indicates University of Chicago, Outlines of Economics. 

It is the hope of the committee that this collection of 
problems will help to make the study of economics more vital 
and interesting to secondary school pupils than it is when 
pursued from a purely theoretical viewpoint. 



QUESTIONS IN ECONOMICS 

CONSUMPTION 

A. — Human Wants 

I. Classification 

1. Make a list of your wants. 

2. Which of these wants must be satisfied if you are to 
continue in existence? 

3. From among the other wants of your list select any 
whijch you think you would still feel even if you lived alone, 
without friends or neighbors. 

4. How many of your wants seem to be due to a desire to 
stand well in the estimation of others? 

5. Reasoning along the lines indicated in questions two 
to four, try to arrange your different wants in two or three 
groups, with a suitable descriptive heading for each group. 

II. Satiability aitd Variety 

6. Why has a savage fewer wants than a well-to-do 
dweller in a modern city? As our wants are satisfied are we 
likely to feel others not hitherto perceived, or is the sum 
total of wants gradually lessened? 

7. What significance to the business man has your 
answer to the preceding question? When people's want 
of bicycles seemed satisfied a few years ago, did the firms 
which had been producing bicycles all have to go out of 
business? 



2 QUESTIONS IN ECONOMICS 

B. — Utilities 
I. Meaning 

8. Suppose you were shipwrecked and came upon a desert 
island, would a five dollar bill possess utility for you? Would 
a loaf of bread? Suppose that there were game on the island 
but you had no way of capturing it, would it have utility? 

II. Kinds: form, place, time, qualitative, quantitative 

9. Has iron ore any utility when it is first brought from 
the mines? What new utility does it possess when it has 
been used in the making of an automobile? 

10. Have stones any utility while lying scattered in the 
field? Can they be made to possess utility? Explain. 

11. Mention five articles in which time utility is most 
prominent. 

12. Has wine made last week as much utility as it will have 
several years hence? 

13. When a bushel of potatoes is planted in the ground, 
will there normally be more or less utility as a result of this 
proceeding? 

III. Goods — Economic and free; the transitions 
from one to the other 

14. How does the economist's definition of the word 
"wealth" differ from the popular usage? 

15. "The more things in the nature of wealth a com- 
munity has, the less prosperous it is." Do you agree? Why 
or why not? (D) 

16. Are the following articles "goods"? Are they "eco- 
nomic" or "free" goods? Air, wheat, forest trees, the 
steamship Titanic in her present position, sunlight, iron ore 
in America before its settlement by white men, a doctor's 
services, hen's eggs, flies, family aft"ection, a trademark? 



CONSUMPTION 3 

17. Give two other examples of free and two of economic 
goods. 

IV. The Law of Diminishing Utility 

18. State the law of diminishing utility of goods and 
illustrate from your own experience. 

19. State in your own words what is meant by the term 
"marginal utility." 

20. Discuss the marginal utility theory as it might work 
out in regard to the food supply of an Arctic explorer, who, on 
the verge of starvation, is found by a relief expedition. 

V. Present Goods vs. Future Goods 

21. If you had a certain amount of money with which to 
support yourself for the next twenty years, do you think 
you would divide the sum into twenty equal parts and 
use one part each year? Why might you not do so, even 
though there should be no special calls upon your resources 
in one year more than another? If you needed a coat, 
would you give as much for one which would be delivered 
to you next year as for one which would be delivered 
to you now? Why? 

VI. The Law of Demand 

22. Would you like to own the Raphael painting known 
as the " Sistine Madonna" ? If so, does your wish constitute 
a demand for the picture in the economic sense? 

23. If in an isolated community the apple crop amounts 
to 2000 barrels in 1912 and to 4000 barrels in 1913, assuming 
that no more intense want for apples is felt by the inhabitants 
in 1913 than in 191 2, what will be likely to happen to the 
price of apples in 1913 if the whole crop is to be disposed of? 
Suppose that the same number of barrels is for sale in both 
years, but that cost of production has been greater in 19 13 
than in 19 12 and that therefore in 19 13 the farmers charge 



4 QUESTIONS IN ECONOMICS 

a higher price per barrel. Unless there has been an increase 
in the want for apples, will the farmers be likely to dispose 
of their whole crop at the higher price? Formulate a gen- 
eral law expressing the influence of price changes upon the 
amount of goods purchased. 

VII. Elastic vs. Inelastic Demand 

24. Is it certain that the doubled apple crop of the pre- 
ceding question will be sold for half as much per barrel as 
the earlier crop was sold for? 

a. May not some person who in 191 2 bought only one 
barrel, buy two barrels in 1913 if the price is reduced only 
a little — say twenty-five per cent? Would you say that 
the demand was more or less elastic in the latter case than 
in the former? 

25. Would a decrease in the price of salt cause an increased 
amount of that commodity to be used? Would an increase 
in the price of it lessen the amount consumed? Explain 
why the decrease in the price of automobiles has more than 
proportionally increased the number of automobiles used. 

26. What is a substitution good? What influence upon 
the elasticity of demand for a certain good would be exerted 
by the existence of a substitute? Illustrate. 

27. In general are necessities or luxuries the object of 
more elastic demands? Why? 

28. Name certain goods which may be classified as lux- 
uries for some classes of people and necessities for others. 
Could the demand for them be called elastic or inelastic with- 
out reference to the different classes from which the demand 
might come? 

29. Suppose you were the sole producer of a certain good 
and could put it on the market at any price you liked without 
danger of being undersold by other producers; how would 
your decision as to the price you would ask be influenced by 
the fact that the community is made up of different "income 



CONSUMPTION 5 

classes," to some of whom your goods would be a necessity, to 
others a luxury? Explain and illustrate. 

30. Should you expect the same grade of broadcloth 
to sell for the same price in all the retail stores of a given 
city? Why or why not? 

VIII. The Law of Variety 

31. Have you all the clothes that you could possibly use, 
so that you would not even desire to have any additional 
garment given you? If clothing still has any marginal 
utility to you, why have you not devoted more of your 
income to the purchase of additional articles? Explain 
your action in terms of marginal utility. 

32. Reasoning along the line suggested in the previous 
question, can you express your conclusions in the form of a 
general law or statement of the reasons why it is desirable 
to have a variety of consumption goods? 

33. What is your opinion of the amount of utilities enjoyed 
by the ordinary city or suburban dweller compared with the 
amount enjoyed by isolated inhabitants of a newly settled 
region where soil and climate are good, and food and clothing 
and shelter easily obtainable? 

IX. Causes of Iitcrease or Decrease in Demands 

34. Is the constant advertising of Campbell's soups 
socially desirable? 

35. The advertising of a certain brand of tea causes a 
great increase in sales. Does the advertising create a new 
desire for tea? 

36. Give examples of the effect upon demand caused by 
advertising. Can you mention cases where advertising 
results in the enjoyment of a greater sum of utilities than 
would have been possessed by the community if there had 
been no advertising? When may advertising be considered 
economically undesirable? 



6 QUESTIONS IN ECONOMICS 

37. Give examples of the effect upon demand caused by 
(a) an increase in prosperity, (b) changes in fashion, (c) 
accident. 

X. The Law of Least Social Cost 

38. Granted that the inhabitants of Massachusetts get 
the same pleasure from eating oranges as from eating 
apples, and supposing that they could not obtain oranges 
from other regions, do you think it would be wise for them 
to produce oranges? Why? The early settlers in Massa- 
chusetts enjoyed wheat bread more than corn bread: were 
they wise in developing wheat culture rather than corn? 
Even if they got all the wheat bread they wanted, do you 
think that the sum total of their wealth was as great as 
though they had eaten corn bread? What is the Law of 
Least Social Cost? 



I. Productive Consumption and Final Consumption 

39. From the point of view of the effect upon the amount 
of wealth to be enjoyed by the community in the future, do 
you see any difference between the sort of consumption of- 
coal involved in heating a dwelling house, and the sort of 
consumption involved in heating and supplying motive 
power to a factory? 

II. Necessities and Luxuries 

40. Economic goods may be classified as necessities and 
luxuries. Make a list of goods which you consider necessities 
in your own case. What is your definition of a "necessity" ? 

III. Waste vs. Saving 

41. What is your definition of the term "waste"? Is a 
ten-course dinner wasteful? Might it be considered wasteful 
to have no dinner at all? Why? 



CONSUMPTION 7 

42. "Extravagance when practiced by millionaires is a 
blessed thing. It causes a freer circulation of money, affords 
the laboring man work, feeds women and children, and affects 
in fact every industry, no matter how small." Why do you 
agree or disagree with this statement? 

43. The earthquake in Italy in 1915 destroyed much 
property and will furnish labor for many men in restoring 
what has been damaged. Are such events in any sense 
economically beneficial? 

44. From the point of view of the community's economic 
welfare, do you consider it desirable that some of its richer 
members should give balls costing $100,000 each? Why? 

45. If the money in question were "saved," would it be 
kept stored in the house of its owner, or would it probably be 
left on deposit in the bank? What would the bank^do with 
the money? 

46. Suppose the owner of the sum had kept the money in 
his own possession, — had "hoarded" it, — would he have 
been more or less of a benefactor to society than if he had 
spent it on a ball? 

47. Suppose the object of expenditure had been beautiful 
pictures and statues, placed in a gallery to which the public 
had access, should you consider this a more or less desirable 
form of consumption than that involved in giving a ball? 
Why? 

48. State exactly what you mean by "saving" as con- 
trasted with "hoarding." What are the benefits to the indi- 
vidual saver and to society? What limitations would you 
put upon saving, i.e. at what point ought an individual to 
begin to save, and at what point should he stop? 

IV. Costs and Standards of Consumption 
by the Household 

49. Why is it desirable to obtain statistics of consumption? 

50. What is a household budget? 



8 QUESTIONS IN ECONOMICS 

51. State Engel's Law. What modification of Engel's 
Law has been observed in the expenditure of American 
workmen? 

52. Find out what percentages of a $700 income ought to 
be spent on food, on clothing, on rent, on heat and light; by 
a family consisting of 5 persons — 2 adults and 3 children — 
in the larger northeastern cities of the United States. Is 
there much of the income left for health and education and 
amusements? What would be the proper scale of expendi- 
tures for the same family if the income were $1200 or more? 

53. Find out approximately how much money is spent 
on alcoholic drinks each year in your state. 

54. To what extent is the use of automobiles to be regarded 
as wasteful? 

55. Do you consider that all or part of the wealth spent on 
moving picture shows is wasted? If so, in what does the 
waste consist? 

56. Make a list of the ways in which food may be wasted. 

57. What are the qualities of nourishing food? Is nutri- 
tive value invariably proportional to tenderness and flavor? 
Are the tougher cuts of meat less nourishing than more 
tender cuts? 

58. What would be the effect on the price of meat if other 
dishes were substituted for it? Is there a waste involved in 
the exclusion of such dishes from the family bill-of-fare? 

59. Is there a waste involved in overeating? 

60. Why should every housewife study the science of 
nutrition? 

61. "You are helping to pay for the delivery of the 
heavier and more bulky articles every time you make a 
purchase at the ' free delivery ' stores whether your purchase 
is sent or taken with you." Explain. 

62. The residents in a certain district of a Massachusetts 
town cooperate in buying butter and eggs direct from a 
Vermont producer. The two commodities are sent from 



CONSUMPTION 9 

Vermont to one resident in this group, who distributes them 
to his neighbors. Have they saved the cost of the middleman 
upon these goods? 

63. What are the reasons for buying Heinz's pickles in 
bulk rather than in small bottles? 

64. If all consumers paid cash for the goods they buy, 
would this policy have any effect upon the cost of living? 

65. In what way does a consumer who gets credit at a 
store and fails to pay his bills injure all other persons buying 
at that store? 

66. Find out by inquiry in the markets and elsewhere 
approximately how much a family of 5 persons could save 
in a year by buying some of their food supplies in large 
quantities, e.g. butter, lard, ham, bacon, macaroni, rolled 
oats, canned goods, sugar, flour, winter vegetables. 

67. What is a municipal market? Is it a desirable 
institution? Explain. 

68. What are the advantages of parcel post marketing? 
Find out what the United States is doing to further this 
method of marketing. 

69. What are the economic advantages and disadvantages 
of the pushcart food market? 

70. Outline the Pure Food Laws of the United States. 

71. Outline the Pure Food Laws of your own state. 

72. Outline the Pure Food Laws of your own town or city. 

73. What is the "pure textile" movement now being 
talked about? What is shoddy? Find out all that you can 
about the adulteration of shoe leather, 

74., If there is a cooperative store in your state or town, 
describe its organization and activities. 



PRODUCTION 

A. — Its Nature and Definition 

1. Would the building of a war vessel be a production? 

2. Is the digging of a ditch production? Explain its 
utility. 

3. Are the following enterprises productive: storage ware- 
house, parcel post, wireless telegraph, soda fountain, specula- 
tive buying of cotton to be held for a rise in price, automobile 
business, life insurance? 

B. — Value 

4. Is a pound of gold or a pound of silver more valuable 
than a pound of flour or a pound of bricks? 

5. Does a housekeeper speak correctly when she says, 
"How much are beets worth this morning ? " 

6. What is the meaning of a shop window sign, "Value 
$5.00; Price, $2.49"? 

7. "The house was worth a thousand dollars more than 
was paid for it." What does this mean? 

8. Give as many reasons as possible why the following 
articles have a high value: an old violin, a war vessel, a 
Van Dyke picture, an inlaid mahogany table. 

9. Give reasons why a pair of skates is valuable. How 
would this value be decreased? 

10. Can fashion increase the value of an article? Explain. 

11. Do precious stones have a marginal utility? 

12. It is said that a safety razor is at the present time sold 
at a large profit. What is the normal value of this commodity? 

13. Why does not a bag of flour sell for $50? 



PRODUCTION II 

14. A good bicycle now sells for only $35. Why? A 
good bicycle once sold for $150. 

15. Why have so many men entered the automobile 
business? 

16. Does the manufacture and sale of cereal substitutes 
affect the normal value of coffee? 

17. Name as many ways as possible in which the word 
market is used. 

18. Does a market include more than one city? 

19. What modern inventions have changed the extent of 
the market? Why? 

20. What is meant by saying that all the capital a specu- 
lator needs is a block of paper and a pencil, and all the 
knowledge he needs is a knowledge of human nature? 

21. Would a grocer be likely to lower the price of sugar at 
once if he were able to purchase it at wholesale a cent per 
pound cheaper? Why? Would he be likely to raise it with 
an increase in the wholesale price? 

22. Is it the competition between buyers or between sellers 
that affects the price of eggs in the one store of a village? 

23. What are the disadvantages of haggling? 

24. A market man sells eggs this morning at 43 cents. His 
competitor puts down the price for his eggs, also "strictly 
fresh," to 41 cents. Why does the second dealer lower his 
price? 

25. In what sense is the term value used in the following? 
{a) "Whiskey is of no permanent value to society." {b) "We 
offer the biggest values in the city." (c) "The book cost me 
two dollars, but that does not measure its value." {d) "The 
floods caused a tremendous destruction of values." {e) "The 
value of a silver dollar is really only forty cents." (/") "Prices 
of railway and industrial stocks may still be below values." 
(D) 

26. What determines the value of the unsold patent egg- 
beaters, 1 2 gross of which have been produced, if after a few 



12 QUESTIONS IN ECONOMICS 

sales they have been found unsalable and left on the manu- 
facturer's hands? 

27. What determines the price of a special doughnut sold 
at the Woman's Industrial Union? Only one woman knows 
the secret of making this special kind. 

C. — Market Value vs. Normal Value 

28. Can you think of any reason why the market value or 
the normal value of the following should change: aeroplanes, 
telephones, railroad fares, petroleum, roses? 

29. A man bought a newspaper for a cent, a box of candy 
at a fashionable store for a dollar, two theatre tickets for 
three dollars each, and then remembered that he should 
have ordered some groceries. Accordingly, he bought a bag 
of flour for ninety cents, a dozen eggs for fifty cents, and a 
dozen oranges for forty cents. Discuss the normal and 
market prices of his purchases. 

30. Does the normal value or the market value of a winter 
overcoat change at the time of the January sales? 

31. Write a list of reasons why normal value at a given 
time might be higher than market value. 

32. Two commodities produced at constant cost require 
for their production equal amounts of the same raw 
material and equal amounts of the same grade of labor. 
Would their market values be the same? Their normal 
values? (D) 

33. A certain automobile company recently advertised 
that one of its cars had traveled 1046 miles using only one 
gallon of oil. If this firm has discovered the means of using 
such a small amount of oil, and the other firms are unable to 
make such a discovery, (provided the company can indefi- 
nitely increase its output) will this affect the price of other 
cars? 

34. Two men who kept retail fish stores in different suburbs 
of a large city bought a quantity of codfish at a wholesale 



PRODUCTION 13 

price of ten cents per pound. One dealer sold the fish to 
his customers for fifteen cents per pound. The other sold 
the same grade of fish to his customers for twenty-five cents 
per pound. Why was there this difference in the retail price? 
Was either price a normal price or a market price? 

D. — Factors in Production 
I. Nature 

35. Compare the resources of the American country 
settled by the English with that settled by the Spaniards. 
How do you account for the success of the one and the 
failure of the other? 

36. Why has Iceland continued prosperous? 

37. Give as many examples as possible of the part played 
by water in production. 

38. What is " made land " ? How far is it to be considered 
a contribution of nature? 

39. The population of Nevada has about doubled in the 
past ten years. Why? 

40. The New England tanning and leather industry of 
Brockton and Lynn is meeting with competition from the 
Middle West. Can you see any reason for this? 

41. The packing industry has migrated westward from 
Cincinnati to Chicago. What cities challenge Chicago's 
supremacy in this industry? Why? What advantages has 
Chicago over her rivals? 

42. Where is most of the harvesting machinery manu- 
factured? Why? 

43. What conditions might cause it to move westward? 

44. Name the chief industries of western Pennsylvania. 
For what industries does this location offer the greatest 
advantages? 

45. Where are the chief flour manufacturing centers in the 
United States? Explain their location. 



14 QUESTIONS IN ECONOMICS 

46. Do you think that the natural resources of your state 
are used to their fullest extent? What changes would you 
advise? 

47. Where is the greatest amount of manufacturing in 
your state? Why is this so? 

48. Can you think of any other region in your state in 
which manufacturing might be carried on? 

49. What advantages have the present manufacturing 
centers over those which you have indicated? 

50. What industries are carried on in your city? 

51. Look up the history of these establishments. Tell if 
possible why they were established and why they continue 
despite competition elsewhere. 

52. How might a farmer obtain a crop twice or three 
times greater than formerly by the use of careful draining, 
fertilizers, and improved machinery, and still not make 
anywhere near as large a gain on his total investment? 

53. Under which method, then (the improved or the 
unimproved) , will it be best for him to continue? 

54. What conditions might convince him that it would be 
wiser for him to return partly or wholly to the unimproved 
plan? 

55. If a factory owner knew that by installing the latest 
improved machinery in his factory he could save in motive 
power, would he under any conditions not put in the new 
machinery? 

56. How does the law of diminishing returns operate to 
keep most of the coal mines of the Eastern Rocky Mountains 
unworked? 

57. The wastefulness of American farming has been 
the subject of much comment and discussion. Would it 
have been less wasteful to use European methods in this 
country? (C) 



PRODUCTION 15 



II. Man 

58. Which of the following are labor: exercise to reduce 
one's weight; golf playing; serving as a bank director; coach- 
ing a football team; painting for love of the art; miUtary 
service? Define labor. (D) 

59. Is the irksomeness of labor inevitable? How, if at all, 
may it be minimized? (D) 

60. Are the following productive laborers: a contractor 
razing a building; a ticket speculator; a policeman on 
duty at an amateur baseball game; a grocer; a com- 
mission merchant; a professor of fine arts; an examina- 
tion proctor; a bond salesman; a pubHsher of sensational 
falsehoods; an agitator for Socialism; the admiral of a 
battleship fleet; a lawyer who successfully defends a guilty 
person; a smuggler of diamonds; a smuggler of Chinese 
coohes; a politician campaigning for high office; the 
writer of an advertisement for a harmless patent medicine? 
Define productive labor. (D) 

61. Is all productive labor honorable? legal? Is all 
unproductive labor dishonorable? illegal? Illustrate and 
give your reasoning. (D) 

62. A college man as a result of playing football devel- 
oped a fine physique, was helped in controlling his temper, 
and also had his resourcefulness developed. These assets 
greatly aided him in later life. Would football be called 
labor? 

63. Is the baseball umpire a laborer? 

64. A starter in the subway apparently merely blows a 
whistle. Is he a laborer? Why? 

65. Is a detective a laborer? A pickpocket? Is there 
any difference? 

66. Write down as many occupations as possible which in 
reality involve a waste of human energy. 



1 6 QUESTIONS IN ECONOMICS 

67. Some Englishmen object to the donation of libraries 
by Mr. Carnegie on the ground that an additional expense is 
thus added in the maintenance of such libraries and that the 
tax rate is raised. What do you think of this view? 

68. What occupation do you intend to follow when you 
graduate? Why do you choose this occupation? 

69. What do you consider your chief quahfications for the 
successful performance of your duties? 

70. In your opinion, what would be the only grounds wliich 
would justify your employer in discharging you? 

71. Name in order what you consider the most dangerous 
occupations. 

72. Are there any dangerous occupations carried on in 
your city? 

73. Look up the vital statistics in your town or city. 
Does the death rate exceed the birth rate? 

74. Compare with surrounding localities. Compare with 
cities or towns having about the same population. 

75. What are the chief preventive measures of your 
board of health? 

76. If possible, find out the birth rate in various wards. 
Is it greatest or least in the sections in which there is the 
most wealth? Why? 

77. Do you think that American workmen are superior 
to foreign born? State your reasons. 

78. Why have immigrants come to Massachusetts? 

79. What proportion of the inhabitants of your city is 
foreign born? Reasons for this? • 

80. Should immigration be restricted? 

81. There has been much discussion in favor of restricting 
immigration by means of an educational test. Is this a fair 
test of desirability? 

82. If peace will remove one of the most serious hindrances 
to the working of the Malthusian Law, is there any danger of 
starvation in the future? 



PRODUCTION 17 

83. Is it possible, as is sometimes stated, that our pop- 
ulation is no greater than it would have been without 
immigration? (C) 

84. Why cannot farming processes ever reach the minute 
subdivision of labor that is possible in a manufacturing 
plant? 

85. "Economic productivity is not a matter of piety or 
merit or deserving, but only of commanding a price. Actors, 
teachers, preachers, lawyers, all do things that men are 
content to pay for. So wages may be earned by writing 
libels against a rival candidate, or by setting fire to a com- 
petitor's refinery. The test of economic productivity in a 
competitive society is the fact of private gain, irrespective 
of any ethical criteria." — Davenport. Do you agree? In 
which of the cases above-mentioned, if any, do you find 
economic productivity? 

86. "We need not fear labor competition with Christen- 
dom. The readjustment would involve some temporary 
hardship, but it would be only temporary. But to compete 
with the wages paid in India, China, and , Japan would be 
impossible. In some cases American wages would fall; in 
other cases the American manufactures would cease. 
Wages at three or four dollars a day could not long be 
kept up in competition with v/ages at twenty-five, fifty, 
or even seventy-five cents a day. Oriental wages would 
rise a little; American wages would fall a great deal." 
Do you agree? 

87. "The inevitable attitude of the hired workman is to 
favor arrangements that seem to make work and to oppose 
those that seem to lessen work." Why should this attitude 
be thought "inevitable" ? 

88. Would you expect a high development of the division 
of labor in the following businesses: truck farming; manu- 
facture of jewelry; automobile repairing; carpentering; 
interior decorating? In each case give your reasons. (D) 



1 8 QUESTIONS IN ECONOMICS 

89. "The division of labor is limited by the extent of the 
market." Explain with reference both to the geographical 
division of labor and to the division of labor among individ- 
uals. What other factors may limit the division of labor in 
any industry? (D) 

90. What sorts of gain result from the geographical 
division of labor? Are there analogous gains in the division 
of labor among individuals? (D) 

91. What advantages of and limitations upon large scale 
production appear most prominently in the iron and steel 
manufacture; retail trading; dairy farming; job printing; 
watch manufacturing? (D) 

92. How do you account for the appearance of widely 
different scales of production, (c) in different industries; (b) 
within a single industry? (D) 

93. What are the limitations upon large scale production 
in agriculture? in manufacturing? Would you expect the 
scale of manufacture to be affected by a large increase of 
graduates from schools of business administration? Would 
you expect the scale of agriculture to be affected by a large 
increase of graduates from agricultural colleges? (D) 

94. A boy with a talent for technical work is persuaded by 
his relatives to take a classical education. Is this economic 
waste? 

III. Capital 

95. Is all capital wealth? Is all wealth capital? 

96. Does the intention of the owner make an article capital 
or not? 

97. Are the following capital: a dog; a wheat field; flour; 
a workman's lunch; a jail; a fountain pen; a railroad bond; 
a railroad ticket; an opera singer's talent; coal in a boiler; 
a five-dollar gold piece; a college dormitory? (D) 

98. To what extent and in what manner do the following 
contribute to the formation of capital: a miser; a savings 



PRODUCTION 19 

bank; government borrowing; a manual training school 
teacher; a college professor? (D) 

99. What obstacles hindered the creation of capital in 
primitive times? What obstacles to-day impede the growth 
of capital in (a) Mexico; (b) the United States? (D) 

100. Is the boiler which heats this building capital? 

101. Make a list of at least twenty-five articles which you 
consider capital. 

102. After each article place a "C" if you consider it 
circulating capital, "F" if you consider it fixed, 'Tr." if free, 
and "S" if specialized. 

103. Is the ability to play the piano ever capital? The 
ability to swim? 

104. What part of a grocery store is fixed capital and what 
part circulating capital? 

105. Show all the steps which call for the use of capital 
from the planting of the grain on the Dakota prairie to the 
toast as it appears on the breakfast table. 

106. A few years ago, an Englishman was heard to com- 
plain bitterly because the ministry had not appropriated 
enough money for a number of warships so that men in the 
dockyards could be busy. He stated that as a result many 
men were out of work and thus the ministry had caused 
misery. Was his reasoning correct? 

107. A congressman of a certain Massachusetts district 
prides himself that he "made work" for men of his section of 
the country by influencing the passage of a bill involving 
thousands of dollars of expense, for the dredging of a 
certain river. Should he be proud of his record in this 
particular? 

108. As a result of the demand for war supplies, build- 
ings formerly used for manufacturing other goods are 
being used for manufacturing army goods. Should these 
buildings be considered fixed, circulating, free, or specialized 
capital? 



20 QUESTIONS IN ECONOMICS 

109. "If there were no law of diminishing returns, every 
farmer would soon become a millionaire by doubling his 
capital and labor frequently." Comment. 

110. If a miser saves a can of money and buries it in his 
cellar, is the gold capital? Suppose after his death a deep 
cellar is dug and the gold is found and placed in a bank; is 
the money capital or wealth or both? 

111. "There can be no identity of interest between the 
workers who have only their labor power and such men as 
Rockefeller and Morgan and their stockholders who con- 
tribute nothing to production. Labor must fight for what 
capital now controls, the means of production, tools, machin- 
ery, and all of those things which should be controlled by 
labor alone." Do you agree? 

112. "He had told the commission of an ideal era of free- 
dom for which labor is striving, which he described as a 
world in which a big union would control all means of pro- 
duction and in which there should be no such thing as 
capital." Comment. 

113. "The capital of this company is $1,000,000." What 
does this mean? 

114. A certain firm which manufactures woolen goods 
recently heard (Jan. 191 6) that one of its rivals had advanced 
the price of the manufactured article 15%. Accordingly, 
the firm made a corresponding advance. Is this contrary 
to the law of supply and demand? 

115. The phrase "waste of monopoly" has been used by 
believers in the Competitive System. Can you justify the 
use of the expression? 

116. "The modern division of labor sets men free because 
women or children can now perform the work previously 
done by them." How are the following affected: the labor 
market, the community, the woman, the home, the child? 

117. Why not advise a nation to avoid a war debt by 
keeping a war chest? 



CONSUMPTION 21 

118. During the present war, women in the belligerent 
countries are doing much work formerly done by men. 
Suppose they become so efficient that they can do the work 
better by the close of the war than can most men, what will 
be the effect upon production? 

119. Thousands of men are being killed by this war. Is 
it probable that American laborers will migrate to Europe 
to meet the labor shortage after peace is declared? Why? 

120. French convalescent soldiers maimed for life and 
incapable of further service in the field of, battle are being 
taught new trades. Is their labor skilled or unskilled? 

E. — Forms of Business Organization 

121. The expense of supervision is saved by cooperation in 
production. What disadvantages may offset this saving? 

122. The Socialists claim that perfect cooperation could 
be obtained under their system by dividing the industries 
of the United States upon a more scientific basis. Do you 
agree with them? Why or why not? 

123. Show how the man who acts as the promoter in the 
building of a municipal ice plant is entitled to the share he is 
paid on the value of the investment. 

124. The "credit man" of the Blank Mfg. Co. is paid 
$7, GOO per year. How does he earn his salary? 

125. Five shares of railroad stock are owned by an investor. 
Has he a proportional amount of responsibility for an influ- 
ence in the management of the business compared with the 
man who owns one share? 

126. The modern corporation gives an opportunity for 
investment to the small investor. Is this opportunity 
accompanied by disadvantages? 

127. Was stock watering justified in the following case? A 
manufacturing company was capitalized at $300,000. One- 
half was paid-in capital, the other half water. In five years, 
the business was paying 7% on the $300,000. 



22 QUESTIONS IN ECONOMICS 

128. Would you expect corporations or partnerships to be 
the more common in the following businesses: retailing of 
bonds; truck farming; gold mining; manufacture of explo- 
sives; automobile repairing; preparatory school education; 
ship building; aerial navigation; insurance? (D) 

129. In what respects has the development of the busi- 
ness corporation been advantageous, in what respects disad- 
vantageous for: (a) the business man; (b) the investor; (c) 
the community at large? (D) 

130. Give three possible advantages of combination as 
distinct from large scale production. Does large scale man- 
agement necessarily involve large scale production? (D) 

131. What motives lead most strongly to (a) horizontal 
combination; (b) vertical combination? To which form of 
combination is the tendency the stronger? Why? (D) 

132. There are national banks, state banks, and private 
banking houses in the United States. Explain the reasons 
for the existence of these different forms of organization 
in the banking business. 



EXCHANGE 

A. — Transportation 

1. In 1913, 10% of the foreign carrying of the United 
States was done by American vessels. Are American ves- 
sels unsuccessful competitors in this business? 

2. Explain the benefits that speculation in railroad con- 
struction after the Civil War conferred on the country. 

3. Was the United States Government justified in aiding 
the building of the Union Pacific Railroad by land grants? 

4. ''When a railroad brings artisans to the door of the 
farmer it is a blessing. When it takes the wheat, the flesh, 
the corn, and the cotton to a distant manufacturing center, 
a locomotive is an exhauster: its smoke is a black flag, and 
its whistle is the scream of an evil genius." Comment. 

5. The taxi rate for a passenger and trunk from the 
Pennsylvania Railroad station in New York to the Grand 
Central station; distance one mile, is $1.00. The rate for a 
passenger and trunk from Boston to New York by railroad 
is $5.25. This distance is 215 miles. Explain. 

6. Milk in a certain country town in Massachusetts can 
be bought for 32 cents per can, 8 J quarts. The cost of 
this milk to customers living in a city 12 miles distant is 
9 cents per quart. The town is on the railroad that serves 
the city. Explain the great variation in price. 

7. The parcel post is said to have ruined the business of 
many small express companies. Is this desirable competition? 

8. Would the transportation rate from Florida to New 
York upon a car-load of oranges be higher than upon a car- 
load of miscellaneous goods? Explain. 



24 QUESTIONS IN ECONOMICS 

9. What method is used by a raihoad in determining the 
rates upon the following articles: coal, United States mail, 
apples, milk, cattle, express packages? 

10. The cost of stopping an engine at a station is $5. 
Does this cost affect the charges of this railroad for handhng 
local freight? 

11. For which service is the railroad charge greater, for 
handling a car-load of sand 20 miles or for handling a car- 
load of furniture the same distance? Which service costs 
the railroad more? 

B. — Marketing Goods: Foreign Trade 

12. When goods are ordered by mail and such orders are 
filled by mail, in such a process of exchange is there a market 
involved? 

13. There is a shortage of hat stitchers in Philadelphia. 
Why do not the idle hat stitchers of South Boston respond to 
the demand? 

14. How is the sale of American pork in Germany com- 
plicated as compared with its sale in the United States? 

15. The movement of labor and capital between nations 
may be less free than between the sections of a given country. 
Illustrate from reference to actual conditions. 

16. How does the government's regulation of trade afifect 
the movement of the labor supply from Europe to this 
country? 

17. Do these regulations benefit the workmen in this 
country? 

18. Is an "unfavorable balance" of trade to the United 
States to be regarded with anxiety? 

19. How would a Boston leather merchant pay for an 
invoice of hides from Russia? 

20. Is the rate of sterling exchange in New York affected 
by the European War? Explain. 



EXCHANGE 25 

21. Is the welfare of the United States affected by the 
Italian wage earners taking their accumulated wages home 
to Italy at the close of a season? If so, how? 

22. Explain how a protective policy aims to equalize the 
cost of production between Italy and the United States. 

23. Under what circumstances might the United States 
continue to import cheap cotton cloth from China, even if 
she could produce it more cheaply here? 

24. Is the reasoning correct in this speech made in 1909 
by a member of Congress? "During the past few years the 
United States have imported from $1,000,000 to $2,000,000 
worth of antimony — largely from Japan, Mexico, China, 
and Labrador. Practically every ton of it is imported, 
notwithstanding the fact that in ten or twelve of the western 
states it is found in abundance. I have no doubt that 
(with a proposed duty on antimony) within twelve months 
instead of importing all our antimony, we shall produce every 
pound of it in the United States. We shall have the money 
and the antimony too." 

25. "If we buy rails from England, we get the rails but 
they get our money; if we buy rails at home, we get the rails, 
keep our money, and give employment for American labor." 
Is this sound reasoning? 

26. "Wise government will never let a dollar in money go 
out of the country; for, as every dollar spent by an individual 
makes him so much poorer, so every dollar paid out by the 
country makes the first country so much the poorer." 
Criticize. (F) 

27. "We recognize that Americans are annually spending 
$200,000,000 in foreign travel. That practically every 
dollar of this vast simi is lost to the home circulation cannot 
be disputed." Do you agree? (F) 

28. Is the fact that France has capital free to loan to 
other nations an indication of superior national efficiency? 



26 QUESTIONS IN ECONOMICS 

C. — Money 

29. Will paper money serve as well as gold and silver if the 
government issuing it is a well-established government and 
there is peace in the country? 

30. If a pocket-book containing $15 were lost, would the 
wealth of the world be reduced by that sum during the time 
the pocket-book was lost? 

31. During the recent excavations in Rome a large number 
of ancient Roman gold coins were found in the bed of the 
Tiber. What function of money did they fulfill while in 
concealment? 

32. With the recognized functions of money as a basis of 
criticism, discuss the use of tobacco as money in the English 
colonies. 

33. If the Mona Lisa had been permanently lost to the 
world, how would the money loss have been determined? 

34. Is there any economic objection to "high prices" if, 
in general, individual money incomes are proportionately high? 

35. Does the fact that many individuals belong to both 
the debtor and creditor classes affect the disadvantages to 
those classes caused by a change in the purchasing power of 
a dollar? 

36. Is it justifiable discrimination to make only certain 
kinds of money legal tender? 

37. What causes the existence in the United States of any 
"bad money" as defined by Gresham's Law? 

38. What determines the purchasing power of a dollar? 

39. In 1880 corn was 80 cents per bushel; in 1910 $1.10 
per bushel. Had corn greater food value in 1910 than in 
1880? 

40. When a business man says "money is scarce," does this 
statement imply that money metals are scarce? 

41. Under what circumstances would the gold deposits 
in the Atlantic States be worth working? 



EXCHANGE 27 

42. In the colonial days in Massachusetts a colonial tax 
was to be paid in cattle. What economic principle is illus- 
trated by the fact that the tax was paid in the poorest 
cattle? 

43. There were, in 1913, $337,923,796 in circulation in 
United States notes. Are these a part of the national debt? 

44. Discuss the value to a community of an extravagant 
person who spends freely and puts money into circulation. 

45. British 3 % consols are cash capital to the EngUshman 
who wishes to engage in sheep raising in Australia. Explain. 

46. Why are British consols accepted as gold in all trans- 
actions throughout England? 

47. Upon what would the successful adoption of 
bimetalHsm by the United States depend? 

48. Would the value of a greenback be affected by an 
increase in the demand for gold? 

49. Is there one-half as much silver in a half dollar as in a 
silver dollar? 

50. Do the same forces affect the value of the gold bulHon 
and the value of the gold dollar? 

51. Is a silver dollar worth one hundred cents or forty- 
seven cents? 

52. "Any commodity in general use will serve passably as 
a medium of exchange." Can you think of any commodities 
now in general use in this community of which the statement 
is not true? What commodities other than gold and silver 
might serve satisfactorily as mediums of exchange? (D) 

53. How should you measure the value of an ounce of 
gold; your overcoat; a book prized for sentimental reasons; 
a railroad terminal; a court house; a college stadium? (D) 

54. A general rise in prices takes place. What does this 
indicate as to (a) the price of potatoes; (b) the value of 
money; (c) a general rise in values? (D) 

55. Would gold serve as well for money (a) if it had no value 
apart from monetary use; (b) if it had but one-tenth of its 



28 QUESTIONS IN ECONOMICS 

present value? Would gold have as much value if it did not 
serve as money? (D) 

56. What is a dollar? Should you say "?. dollar bill is a 
dollar," or "a dollar bill is worth a dollar" ? (D) 

57. If half the world's stock of money were suddenly to 
disappear, how would the following be affected: (a) the price 
level; (b) the value of gold watches; (c) lavish expenditure; 
(d) general prosperity? How do you measure (a) the quantity 
of money; (b) the amount of wealth? (D) 

58. "If ten times the labor were given to gold mining than 
is now given, and ten times the gold were thereby got, the 
world would not be better off." Explain. Is gold mining 
productive labor? Would your answer be different if gold 
were used solely for monetary purposes? (D) 

59. Does the government fix the value of the gold dollar; 
the silver dollar; the nickel? (D) 

60. Give four historical examples of the working of 
Gresham's Law. State the law. (D) 

61. "Money is a product of evolution, a result of the 
ages. The better has gradually crowded the poorer out of 
existence." Can you reconcile this statement with Gresham's 
Law? (D) 

62. Why did fractional silver coins in the United States 
tend to disappear after 1850? What measures were taken in 
consequence to regulate our subsidiary coinage? Were all 
of these measures necessary? Under what circumstances, 
if any, would the difficulty of the fifties recur? (D) 

63. At the close of the Civil War the Federal Government's 
unfunded debt was more than $1,000,000,000. In what form 
did this debt exist? 

D. — Banking and Credit 

64. A business man's credit is reported "good." Is 
this standing in business capital to him? 



EXCHANGE 29 

65. How does the Federal Reserve System provide for an 
automatic inflation and contraction of the currency based 
upon the demands made by the volume of business in the 
country? 

66. Is the real value of a country's resources affected by 
inflation of the currency? By contraction? 

67. The mediaeval barons coined the money and regulated 
the value of the money to be used on their estates. What are 
the advantages of the modern method of concentrating all 
coinage power in the hands of the national sovereign 
authority? 

68. What is the size of the credit reserve of a national 
bank, the current indebtedness of which is $400,000? 

69. Is there necessarily a close relation between the money 
value of the transactions of the clearing houses of the coun- 
try and the volume of legitimate business of the country? 

70. The circulation of the state banks was taxed 10% in 
1861 by the Federal Government. The tax upon national 
banks was | of one per cent upon their circulation. Justify 
the discriminating tax. 

71. What are the services of the Federal Reserve banks 
to the other banks of the country? 

72. Is the general benefit of the Federal Reserve banks to 
the business man of the country as great as the benefit to the 
banks? 

73. "The division of labor has, of course, made modern 
banking necessary." Explain. 

74. Explain those features of the recent Federal Reserve 
System that tend to prevent the recurrence of a business 
panic. 

75. The working men in 1835 favored hard money and 
opposed (bank) inflation. Why? 

76. Does a general shortage of money affect the ability of 
a farmer to market his potatoes to advantage if he is willing 
to sell on a credit basis? 



30 QUESTIONS IN ECONOMICS 

77. Which should be relatively more ample, the borrowing 
power for a public enterprise or that for a private business 
undertaking? Reasons. 

78. If the supply of an article is increased, how is the 
value per unit affected? Why? Does the value of the total 
stock rise or fall? Why? (D) 

79. Does credit stimulate or retard truly productive 
enterprises? What is its effect upon speculative enter- 
prises? 

80. Why was the Government issue of "5-20" 6% bonds 
during the Civil War a popular issue? 

81. The pubUc per capita debt in the United States in 
1880 was $38.27; in 1913 it was $10.83. Give reasons for 
the decline in per capita debt. 

82. "What place among the cities of the world would not 
a permanent American debt of $4,000,000,000 give New 
York?" Explain. 

83. Cities have no business to create floating debts. 
Explain. 

84. If the public has perfect confidence in the United 
States' abihty to redeem its paper money in gold, may she 
issue an indefinite amount of paper? 

85. What would be the effect upon wages if the public 
lost confidence in the Government's ability to redeem its 
paper with gold? 

86. How would prices of staples be affected, if at all, by 
this lack of confidence? 

87. How are the debtor and creditor classes affected by a 
rise in the value of gold? 

88. At the time of resumption of specie payment, in 1879, 
by the United States Government, why was the gold provided 
for redemption of paper currency not all required? 

89. South American countries usually are obliged to pay 
5% or 6% interest on loans, whereas the United States can 
borrow money at 2 % or 3 %. Why is this so? 



EXCHANGE 31 

90. Illustrate the use of a bill of exchange in the purchase 
of 1000 pounds of cotton goods from J. B. & Company of 
Manchester, England, by the U. S. Company of New York 
City. (D) 

91. What determines how widely the rates of sterling 
exchange may fluctuate? How, if at all, will the possible 
range of fluctuation be affected by a general European war? 

92. A New York company sells a large shipment of oil 
to a railroad company in India. How might payment be 
effected through London? (D) 

. 93. How should you expect the rate of sterling exchange 
in New York to be affected by (a) a financial panic in New 
York city; (b) a failure of American wheat crop; (c) a great 
increase in American gold output ; (d) the development of an 
American merchant marine ; (e) a general European war? (D) 

E. — Tariff and Insurance 

94. Does a free trade or tariff policy affect our foreign 
labor supply together with other commodities? 

95. Is it true that our tariff duties must never be reduced 
below the point that will cover the difference between the 
labor cost here and abroad? 

96. "The tariff never made a trust and free trade never 
will destroy one." Discuss. 

I 97. Is the assertion true that there is a gain to a country 
from an industry springing up because of a protective tariff 
and supplying a commodity which was formerly imported? 
98. Thomas B. Reed once replied to the statement that 
Harrison's administration was spending a billion dollars by 
saying that this was a billion dollar country. His opponent 
replied that the billion dollars which the Government had 
to spend came as a result of the tariff and that the influx 
into the treasury of so much money led to extravagance and 
unnecessary expenditure. Why is a revenue from a tariff 
conducive to extravagance? 



32 QUESTIONS IN ECONOMICS 

99. Does a protective tariff on manufactures help the 
home producer of food products? If so, how? 

100. Under the tariff revision of 1913, potatoes were placed 
on the free list. Would this fact logically or probably 
result in the formation of a potato trust by the Maine and 
Nova Scotia potato growers? 

•^ 101. What factors lead to the export of cotton from the 
United States; cotton goods from England; toys from 
Germany; tea from China; agricultural implements from 
the United States? (D) 

102. If workmen universally insisted on higher rates of 
pay in hazardous employments, would there be occasion for 
compulsory insurance against accidents? (D) 

103. What is the nature of insurance? To what extent 
does insurance tend to prevent the occurrence of the event 
insured against? May it ever increase the probability of 
such occurrence? (D) 

_^ 104. Should the United States adopt free trade, would she 
be threatened with a continued underselling in all goods by 
Oriental producers? (D) 

V^ 105. What special arguments are there for and against a 
policy of protection for England to-day? (D) 

106. "The principle of protection is to build up our home 
industries by manufacturing our own products. This gives 
our people employment, keeps the money in the country, 
and makes this country an independent and self-reliant 
nation." Wherein are these arguments vahd? Wherein 
invalid? Give your reasons. (D) 

r^ 107. In what manner and through what process does the 
imposition of a protective tariff tend to affect (a) truck farm- 
ers; {b) other farmers; (c) the extent of employment? (D) 

L 108. When we buy manufactured goods abroad, we get 
the goods and the foreigner gets the money. When we buy 
the manufactured goods at home, we get both the goods 
and the money." Criticize. (C) 



DISTRIBUTION 



A. — Shares 



The manufacture of corn brooms is a very simple one so 
that a man working by himself can make them in his own 
house, but from this simple beginning we may construct a 
complicated system. We will suppose the following cases: 
Y 1. Four men decide to meet at one house and divide the 
work in such a way that each will confine himself to one 
operation, all being of equal difficulty. No one makes a 
complete broom, but all working together make 28 brooms. 
/ -How shall they be divided? 

2. Suppose one man becomes so much more efficient than 
the others that he is able to furnish his share of the process 
for six other workers instead of three. Assuming that the 
skill of the others remains the same, how many brooms ought 
the seven to produce and what should the share of the superior 
workman be? 

3. Suppose one man is unable to keep up with the others 
so that they have to stop occasionally and help him; how will 
they adjust his share? What is the smallest share he will 
accept and still continue working with them? 

4. It is observed that they are not able to get the full bene- 
fit of their system of subdivision because of lack of room or 
of other conveniences. It is then discovered that an empty 
barn is available where they can plan the work so well that 
an increase of ten per cent is easily made over what they were 
able to make before. How many brooms should they give 
to the owner of the barn for every hundred they make? 
What name should be applied to this share? 



34 QUESTIONS IN ECONOMICS 

5. Assuming that a sufficient number of men are now 
associated together so that all are working to the best 
advantage and all the adjustments of shares have been sat- 
isfactorily settled, suppose that a machine can be used in 
certain parts of the work so that with no more expenditure 
of labor, ten per cent more brooms are produced than by the 
laborers alone. How many brooms should the owner of the 
machine receive? What factor in production is the machine? 
What will you call the amount paid for its use? 

6. Is the promoter's return for organizing a trust unfair 
because an unearned income? 

7. In some parts of the country, manufacturing plants 
which have outUved their usefulness are being revived for 
the manufacture of war munitions. These naturally attract 
men from other lines of work. Is this an economic benefit? 

B. — Rent 

Some years ago the mayor of Detroit proposed that 
vacant lots in towns and cities should be lent to the deserving 
poor so that they might plant potatoes. It is probably true 
that in every town there are many lots which the owners 
would be willing to have cultivated provided they could be 
assured that the lots would be delivered to them when 
mnted and without having suffered any injury. 

8. A man who is not a landowner wishes to raise potatoes. 
He can get the use of a number of vacant house-lots for 
nothing, but it will cost him something to get them ready and 
fertilize them sufficiently to raise a crop. On the other hand, 
he can get the use of a suitable tract on which it will not be 
necessary to use fertilizer, but the owner of this tract demands 
payment for its use. How much can reasonably be paid for 
the use of the better land? 

9. Will the man who raises potatoes on rented land charge 
more for them than the man who raises them on vacant lots? 



DISTRIBUTION 35 

10. There are four tracts of land. The first yields 15 
bushels to the acre; the second, 20 bushels; the third, 25 
bushels; and the fourth, 30 bushels. If wheat is worth 
ninety cents a bushel at the farm, what differential rent should 
be paid on each tract? 

11. Suppose the four tracts are equally productive but 
are so situated that it costs the value of one bushel per 
acre to get the grain to market from the first tract; the value 
of two bushels to get the crop to market from the second tract, 
and so on. The wheat in the market is worth a dollar a 
bushel. What will be the differential rent in each case? 

12. If the demand for wheat increases so far that land at 
present imder cultivation will not supply the demand, how 
will this affect the price of wheat? How will it affect the 
value of land used for the cultivation of wheat? Obviously 
poorer or more distant land will have to be cultivated in 
order to supply the demand. Will this have any effect on 
the rent of land which is already cultivated? 

13. In the course of time a town or city may grow up on a 
farm. Is it wise to put buildings on fertile soil which would 
raise large crops? Why? 

14. After the town is estabhshed it is discovered that of 
two stores exactly alike in every respect except location, the 
one at the junction of two important streets has a much larger 
trade than the other, so that the net earnings of that store are 
a thousand dollars a year more than the earnings of the other. 
How much more rent can the proprietor of the more profitable 
store afford to pay than the proprietor of the other? 

15. In the above case did the owner of the better store 
contribute in any way to the land so as to make his store 
worth more than the other? 

16. The Duke of Bedford recently sold for a very large sum 
a tract of land in London which one of his ancestors bought 
for an insignificant amount. Do you think that this increase 
in value belonged to some one else and, if so, to whom? 



36 QUESTIONS IN ECONOMICS 

17. Henry George thought that all taxes should be placed 
on land. This would bring the unearned increase in land 
value into the public treasury in the form of taxes. It would 
also make it very expensive to hold land which did not yield 
an income of some kind. What are some of the things to 
be said in favor of, and against this plan? 

18. The rentals from a New York office building amount to 
$50,000 a year. The building is worth $200,000. To pro- 
vide for insurance, depreciation and such fixed items, $10,000 
is expended annually. The current rate of interest upon 
investments of equal security is 5 %, what is the value of the 
land? 

19. "The effect of high prices for land and high rents is 
apparent. Industries will be slow to locate in Pittsburgh if 
rents or prices of land are higher than in other cities. A 
higher rent or interest on the higher price of land bought for 
building, will be a constant charge on cost of operation. 
Consequently, industries will tend to shun a city where this 
higher cost is incurred." Do you think this consequence will 
ensue? 

20. Is this true? "Public improvements and efficient 
public service increase site-value only, therefore site-value 
should pay for them." Explain. 

21. A certain newspaper in an issue of January, 1915, 
relates that a millionaire had contributed $50,000 toward a 
small college in his home town. The town had a celebration 
in honor of the benefactor who had "done something" for 
the town and college. One man objected and spoke as 
follows: "Can't these well-meaning idiots see that this town 
gave Bill his millions just by wearing out their shoe-leather 
walking by his lots? What would his land be worth if it were 
five miles out of town? Yet when he comes across with a 
measly $50,000 there is a regular Thanksgiving Day." Is 
there any justice in these remarks? How would the objector 
probably desire to remedy conditions? 



DISTRIBUTION 37 

22. What did the writer of this statement probably mean? 
"A rich land- value owner may be kindly, temperate and law- 
biding and still be a worse menace to the community than a 
boxcarful of tramps." 

23. A Boston manufacturer is quoted as saying: "Now 
is the time to get ready to hold the world markets against 
European competition. European manufacturers face heavy 
war taxes. If American producers can have their plants 
exempted from taxation, it will help more than a protective 
tariff." What kind of a tax would this man probably 
desire? 

24. ''As an extremity, the land- value tax may be used 
to pay the war debt. This tax cannot be shifted to the 
consumer of products, hence it does not oppress industry. 
It is no more burdensome than the present rent charges 
paid by the industrious to their landlords. In fact, rents 
would be stimulated, and the worker get a larger share of his 
product." Is this true? Explain. 

25. "Land values are socially created values, and they are 
now privately appropriated by paupers in silken gowns — 
people who are pauperizing on you and every other citizen 
who produces anything at any process of production or 
exchange." How would the writer create a better tax? 

26. "The whole purpose of site-tax is not merely to raise 
taxes, but taxing land values only, would encourage enter- 
prise and would at the same time force idle land into use." 
Do you believe this? 

27. Is the best land always utilized first? Did the 
Jamestown colonists cultivate the best soils in America? 
Did they cultivate at the outset the best land in Jamestown? 
(C) 

28. In 1820 land in Ohio sold for $2 or less per acre. 
To-day some of this land produces less corn per acre than in 
1820, yet its price is $100 or more per acre. Explain the 
advance. (C) 



38 QUESTIONS IN ECONOMICS 

V 29. "Our prices are low because we do not have to pay 

' high rent." "The prices of the commodities sold on the 

more expensive sites are not higher." Can you reconcile 

these two statements? If so, how? If not, which is correct, 

and why? (D) 

B. — Wages 

,^ 30. Suppose it could be determined that the share of a 
workman in the product of a mill is two hundred yards of 
cloth a month. The owner of the mill then says to him, "I 
will undertake to sell this cloth for you but I do not know 
what I can get for it: besides that I shall have to wait three 
months for the money and yet you wish me to pay you at once 
what I think it will bring." What charges should be allowed 
for doing this business? 

31. After the bargain has been made and the amount of 
money agreed upon, general prices may go up. How will 
this change affect the purchasing power of the workman's 
wages? 

32. Since the employer is constantly striving to protect 
himself against loss, and the workman is constantly 
striving to get a little more of what he thinks the employer 
is unjustly withholding, what is likely to be their attitude 
toward each other? Do the employer and the workman dis- 
cuss the relative value of the work in the final product? 

33. What is the relative advantage of the employer and 
the workman when it comes to making this bargain? What 
advantage does the "collective bargain "give the workman? 
Illustrate. 

# 34. What is the present agency used by the workmen to 
enforce the collective bargain or at least to make it effective? 
f 35. What general services does the labor union render? 

• 36. What is a strike?* Is it in itself a benefit or an evil? 
Show how employer and workmen are affected by the 
strike. 



DISTRIBUTION 39 

3T Leaving out all lawlessness, what losses are inevitable 
in a strike? Illustrate by examples how different interests 
are affected. 

• 38. A labor agitator said of a building which had just 
been completed: "That building is wholly the product of 
labor." What do you think of that statement? 

39. Is there a definite system for settling labor troubles 
in your state? 

• 40. What are some of the methods of paying workmen 
which are intended to lessen the feeling of hostility between 
employer and employee? 

41. To what extent do the laws of your state protect the 
interests of the workmen? 

42. Can a strong trade union keep up the price of an 
article by limiting the output? 

43. To-day labor says, " I can do with my own as I like and 
if I want to stop work, that is my business." Do you agree? 

44. Plumbers' wages are rising. Will this rise be met by 
an influx of men from other trades, and if so, will the rate 
of wages fall or will the equilibrium be restored by maintain- 
ing a high rate of wages and allowing the individual plumber 
to be idle a part of the time, either by reducing the hours of 
labor or laying him off? 

45. An Englishman in America fills a twenty-five dollar a 
week position. In England he receives the same wage. 
What truth would there be in the statement of this English- 
man that he received a larger salary in England than he 
received in America? 

46. Women teachers in New York City occupying similar 
positions to men are paid similar salaries. Give reasons for 
and against such payment. 

47. Compare the wages of a teamster in Alaska at the 
time of the gold boom, with the wages of a teamster in 
Japan, in New York, in Liverpool during the present Euro- 
pean War. 



40 QUESTIONS IN ECONOMICS 

9 48. The fact that men who are convicts are taught a trade 
and frequently produce articles which are sold to the public, 
has caused unfavorable comment because it is felt by some, 
that such work must interfere with the work of laborers who 
are in the outside world. Is there ground for complaint? 
Explain. 

{a) Is such competition injurious to the man outside in 
the same trade? (6) Is it injurious to the community as a 
whole? • 

49. "The working class is the only class entitled to any 
consideration, and, as I have said, I believe any tactics that 
will accomphsh our purpose are right." Is this so? 

50. The greatest obstacle to American leadership in for- 
eign trade is high American wages. Are such wages a real 
obstacle? If so, are they objectionable? 

51. Is there essential opposition between "Scientific 
Management" and the interests of organized labor? 

52. Are there any industries in which strikes should be 
prohibited by law? 

53. The construction of a college library was delayed 
several months because of a sympathetic strike called on 
account of dissatisfaction of other workmen in a related 
trade, against an employer in a distant city. Upon what 
grounds, if any, was this action justifiable? 

54. A large machine-tool factory insists on keeping its 
establishment an "open shop." What reasons can you give 
for or against this policy. 

55. The plumbers' union admits to membership only 
those who have served a term of apprenticeship. Why? Is 
this policy desirable? 

56. "The annual influx of students and other outsiders 
into the fruit belt to engage in fruit picking and packing is an 
abuse that should be stopped at once. These people consume 
very little, saving their money to take back to Chicago or the 
other places from which they come. Thus, while making 



DISTRIBUTION 41 

large sums off us, they give little or nothing to the support of 
our industries." Criticize. (F) 

57. A member of a wealthy family takes up the occupation 
of interior decorator in order to satisfy a desire for definite 
employment. Does this injure those who rely on this occu- 
pation for means of subsistence? Does it injure working- 
people in general? (C) 

58. Why should wages paid to subway laborers be called 
" advances "? Are all wages advances in the same sense? (D) 

59. The workers in the Anthracite Coal Region make a list 
of ten demands. Demand 6 reads: "We demand that no 
contract miner shall be permitted to have more than one 
working place." The operators in a circular published Feb. 
5, 1916, discussed their demands and said, "This demand is 
apparently intended to limit the earning capacity of the more 
eflScient miner, who, in reality, acts in the capacity of a general 
contractor. We believe that any individual who ... is able 
to increase his earnings, should . . . not (be) fettered by 
rules and regulations to the contrary." Which side is right? 

60. In discussing the demands of the miners the operators 
show that the recognition of the "closed shop" involves the 
"check-off" which means the compulsory collection by the* 
operators of such dues, assessments, fines, etc., as may be 
assessed against miners by union officials." "The contention 
that a majority of employees, by voluntarily forming a union, 
acquire authority over others is untenable." What would 
be the probable argument of the miners? 

61. Which should you expect to be the more highly paid 
and why: 

(a) A street-car conductor or motorman? 

(b) A surface-car motorman or a subway motorman? 

(c) A day-school teacher or a boarding-school teacher? 

(d) A steeple-jack or a house painter? 

(e) A cotton-factory operative or a department- store 

clerk? (D) 



42 QUESTIONS IN ECONOMICS 



C. — Interest 

• 62. Can interest be paid without deducting from other 
factors of production? Must it be paid in order that labor 
may have the use of capital? 

• 63. In a very simple community where each member 
subsists on the product of his own labor (hunting, fishing, 
farming) suppose some person invents an improvement in 
method (implement, weapon, canoe) whereby it becomes 
possible to increase the output. What self-denial must 
he practice to produce the implement? 

• 64. If his neighbors use the implement, will it be sufficient 
if they make good to him the loss of fish, game, or other food 
which he suffered while making the implement? In other 
words, might they take his implement for their own use and 
support him while he makes another for himself? Will it 
be necessary for them to pay him more than the cost of 
replacement in order to induce him to make the sacrifice? 

^ 65. What inducements will cause the other members of 
the community to pay for the use of the new invention? 
« 66. A man in the community has saved a supply of food 
for a feast which he wishes to give to his friends. Another 
member of the community also wishes to give a feast but he 
has not saved up a stock of food. He comes to the first man 
and seeks to borrow his food. What must he offer more than 
the mere return of a like amount later, in order to induce the 
owner of the food-supply to part with it and thus lose the 
enjoyment of the feast? 

% 67. Upon what considerations will the inclination to save 
depend? 

« 68. If a community is very generally given to storing up a 
surplus, what effect will this fact have on the bonus that a 
borrower will have to pay for the use of it? In other words, 
how will it affect the rate of interest? 



DISTRIBUTION 43 

69. If there is doubt as to the borrower's abiUty or wiUing- 
ness to repay the loan, what effect will this have on the bonus 
he will be expected to pay? 

70. Compare the amount paid for Turkish bonds with the 
amount paid for United States bonds of the same face value. 

• 71. When money can be obtained in New England for 
5l% on real estate mortgages, 8% is commonly paid ijf. 
Florida. Explain. 

72. If you had money to invest would you invest it in 
Florida or in your own neighborhood? 

73. What does it mean to say "The money rate is an 
index of trade conditions"? 

• 74. Mediaeval theory in regard to interest was that no 
money could be taken for the use of money unless some risk 
was involved. » Does the person who receives interest at the 
present time run any risk? Give four illustrations in order 
to prove your statement. 

• 75. How far, if at all, is the income derived from the 
following to be called interest: an apartment block; a pawn- 
broker's loan; a United States 2% bond; a Pennsylvania 
Railroad bond; a piano; an automobile truck? (D) 

76. How would the demand for capital be affected by (a) 
the discovery of a large supply of cheap fuel; (b) a rigid 
restriction of immigration; e.g. by the literacy test; (c) a 
general European war? (D) 

» 77. "I am willing to concede that interest ought to be 
paid to a man who saves out of a small income by self-denial, 
but I have no patience with the paying of interest to a capital- 
ist whose accumulations have cost him no sacrifice." Do 
you agree? Can a distinction between the two be madfe 
practically? (D) 

D. — Profits 

* 78. There are four manufacturers of shoes in a town. A 
a very careful estimate which includes an amount paid to the 



44 QUESTIONS IN ECONOMICS 

proprietor equal to a fair salary, makes the cost to the first 
proprietor $2.50 a pair; to the second, $2.40 a pair; to the 
third, $2.30; and to the fourth, $2.20. Will there be any 
difference in the selling price provided the shoes are exactly 
equal in quality? Make a diagram showing the relative 
promts. ♦ 

^i9. Is the amount which any manufacturer receives as 
profits taken out of the wages paid the men? In other words, 
are wages less than they would be if no profits were paid? 

80. There is a patented duplicating device now on the 
market which can be made and sold by only one concern. A 
part of the agreement entered into by the purchaser is that 
only ink suppUed by the company shall be used on the 
machine. This ink is sold at two dollars a pound and the 
cost of manufacture is probably less than fifty*cents a pound. 
If the process of manufacture is essentially the same as for 
other inks will the company pay the workmen higher wages 
than other ink-makers pay? • 

81. Since the customer must buy his ink of this concern or 
go without, why does not the company charge five dollars a 
pound and thus increase its profits? 

82. If the statements in 80 were printed in a book with 
the name of the company and its products, would the com- 
pany's business be injured in any way, since no one else 
could go into the business of supplying ink? In other words, 
is a monopoly likely to object to having the facts about its 
profits known to the public? 

83. Make a list of the monopolies you happen to know 
about and their origin. 

^84. What enemy do you think monopoly most fears, the 
substitution of something else, the resolve of the community 
to do without the article rather than pay the monopoly price, 
or the interference of law? 

t 85. A real estate firm buys an undeveloped piece of land* 
near a large city for $10,000. It spends $5000 for improving 



DISTRIBUTION 45 

and advertising this land. It then sells the land in small lots 

for $50,000. Is the $35,000 thus gained to be classed as 

profits? 

' 86. In problem 85 the owner of an adjoining piece of 

property finds that his land has doubled in value. Is this 

gain a true profit to him? Give reasons for your answer. 



MISCELLANEOUS 

1. Do disturbed political conditions in Mexico tend to 
invite speculative investment or prevent it? Why or why 
not? 

2. A firm manfacturing fertilizers allows a certain farmer 
who acts as their agent a special profit of 1 2 % to act as their 
agent only. If the other consumers apparently pay no 
higher price for their goods is this fee justifiable? 

3. Why may the parcel post be a financial Government 
success without that fact proving the wisdom of the Govern- 
ment's undertaking ownership of a merchant marine? 

4. A woman acts as clerk in a Massachusetts country store, 
at a wage of $3 per week. She is not obhged to pay board at 
home. Has her acceptance of this less than "living wage" 
any effect upon the general labor market? 

5. The tax rate in a country town in Massachusetts is $5; 
a city 15 miles distant has a tax rate of $18.10. Explain the 
bearing of these facts upon the streets, salaries of public 
officials, schools, tax-dodging. 

6. Which is more valuable to the community, the capable 
business man who takes no interest in public affairs or the 
public-spirited citizen who manages his business ably but 
devotes himself to community welfare movements? 

7. A maker of rifles was given a bonus of $25 on each rifle 
furnished to the Confederates during the Civil War. Was 
this profit earned? 

8. Why does the city of New York spend millions annually 
for snow removal when some other cities spend nothing? 

9. A man who had been saving for several years was 
recently heard to complain bitterly against the income tax 



MISCELLANEOUS 47 

because he said that his neighbor, who had not saved, had 
received a good time from spending money whereas he (the 
man who had saved) was rewarded only by having his income 
taxed. Has the man who saved a real grievance? 

10. If an individual workman is benefited by the efforts 
of the labor union do you think he ought to be compelled to 
join the union? What is the union view? The view of the 
non-union worker? 

11. Should you favor a tax of one per cent of the market 
value on all transfers of corporation securities? (D) 

12. Capital has been variously characterized as (a) 
"inchoate wealth"; (b) "congealed labor"; (c) "intermedi- 
ate goods"; (d) "produced means of production"; (e) 
"future goods." In what sense is each an apt description? 
Which is preferable? (D) 

13. Why should United States export gold when it has a 
favorable balance of trade? 

14. How, if at all, is the value of money affected by: (a) 
a greatly increased demand for gold ornaments; (b) an 
increased division of labor; (c) lavish expenditure; (d) the 
growth of mail order houses; e.g. Sears, Roebuck & Com- 
pany; (e) an increased rapidity of circulation of goods; (/) a 
decreased hoarding of specie? (D) 

15. When prices are rising how are the following affected: 
debtors; farmers; factory operatives; manufacturers; owners 
of gold mines; bond holders; stockholders; interest rates? (D) 

16. Why do banks loan money on call at low rates? 

17. Owing to the closing of English ports (during the war) 
to products formerly produced in Germany, a number of new 
industries have sprung up in England. What effect might 
this condition be expected to have upon the tariff history of 
England? Would you expect the same result under similar 
circumstances in the United States? 

18. Granting that more satisfaction is often derived from 
the second hearing of an opera than from the first, and from 



48 QUESTIONS IN ECONOMICS 

the fifth olive than the first, are these cases exceptions to the 
tendency to diminishing utility? (D) 

19. List some goods in respect to which the point of satiety 
tends to be reached most rapidly, (a) in your own case; (b) 
in the case of society at large. (D) 

20. On March 23, 1916, "Bar silver and Mexican silver 
dollars attained their highest quotation since the beginning 
of the European War." Account for this increase in value. 

21. "At the last session of the State Legislature, a law 
was passed making it obUgatory to use Minnesota stone in 
Minnesota public buildings. The men who are engaged in 
the granite industry regard this as a just law." Do you? 

22. The Federal Trade Commission reported in March 
191 6 that the price of gasoline will go no higher for two 
reasons. "One is that substitutes for gasoline are now 
being introduced very fast, and people are learning to use 
both gasoline and kerosene in motor cars and other internal 
combustion engines." Does this agree with the theory of 
normal value and market value? What would you think 
the second reason might be? 

23. What two interpretations may be given the state- 
ment, "The demand for gasoline has greatly increased." 
Define demand. (D) 

24. Should you expect the demand for the following to be 
elastic or inelastic : Diamonds; salt; pepper; haircuts; ink; 
tennis balls; playing cards; automobiles? Define elasticity 
of demand. (D) 

25. The United States Trade Commission recently found 
that the oil pipe lines were charging three times as much as 
they needed to charge in order to insure a fair profit and that 
they made a minimum requirement of 25,000 barrels a day 
before they would take on a customer. Has the Government 
any just cause for interference? 

26. If the safety razor concern makes its market price 
very high, has the Government a right to interfere? 



MISCELLANEOUS 49 

27. Suppose in the above example the razor" concern used 
a different kind of steel from that designated in its patent, 
could the Government, then interfere? 

28. Who pays the tax on buildings, the owner or the 
tenant? (If the tax rate of a city is raised 50 cents on $1000, 
does this mean a corresponding increase in the amount paid 
by the tenant?) 

29. Why does a manufacturing concern often continue the 
operation of its plant even when it realizes that it is over- 
producing? 

30. The Boston Elevated Railroad finds it difficult to 
discharge its employees against the wishes of their union. 
Is this a desirable condition from the viewpoint of the 
union, the company, the passengers? 

31. "I am yet unable to understand how it happens, 
with our export of flour stopped, that the price to local 
consumers is still going up." (From a speech made soon 
after the outbreak of the European War.) What explana- 
tions can you offer? (D) 

32. What is meant by "dealing in futures"? How does 
"dealing in futures" tend to affect: (a) the price of wheat 
for the farmer; (b) the profits of the miller; (c) the price of 
flour to the consumer? (D) 

33. "If labor, by destructive tactics, stops the wheels of 
progress, the people will be aroused, and means will be found 
to retain the good features of organized labor and ehminate 
the bad." What might be considered destructive tactics? 

34. "Railroad men have a moral obligation to remain at 
work, and keep the railroads running, pending a settlement 
of grievances." Discuss. 

35. "There are 30,000,000 workingmen in the United 
States to-day and they tell us that an eight-hour day will 
hurt the public. They also say that if there is an eight-hour 
day at least 7,400,000 more laborers will be needed. Well, 
and if so, there are more than 5,000,000 in what is called the 



50 QUESTIONS IN ECONOMICS 

great army of the unemployed, who would all be given jobs in 
that case. But we must not stop at eight hours. We must 
demand seven, then six, and then five and so on until a just 
working day is reached." Discuss. 

36. Distinguish market value and normal value. Can 
you determine the normal value by averaging market values. 
Is there a normal value for spring hats; eggs; domestic 
service; a first folio of Shakespeare? (D) 

37. What are the important elements of cost in the pro- 
duction of the following: illuminating gas; raw cotton; 
anthracite coal; fine watches; railway transportation; 
grand opera? (D) 

38. Among the demands of a tailors' union which 
must be lived up to if a strike is to be avoided are the 
following : 

"No foreman, cutter or fitter shall be allowed to do 
the work of tailors or bushelmen." 

"No employee shall be discharged after two weeks' 
trial without the consent of the union." 
What is the justification for such demands? 

39. "One of the glaring weaknesses of the present woman 
and child labor legislation is its utter lack of uniformity." 
Should such legislation be uniform throughout the United 
States? Give reasons for your answer. 

40. In I goo over 86 % of all the foreign born population of 
the United States were found in the North Atlantic 
and North Central divisions. How do you account for 
this? 

41. Are the following monopolists: (a) the owner of a 
copyright; (b) the owner of the best site on the lake front in 
Chicago; (c) a corporation manufacturing 8o% of the steel 
rails sold in a country ; (d) a corporation purchasing So % of 
the steel rails sold in a country; (e) the United States post 
office; (/") the sole possessor of the secret of making glass 
flowers. (D) 



MISCELLANEOUS 51 

42. "The Dutch East India Company used to destroy 
part of its spice crop to enhance its profits." What con- 
ditions were essential to make this poHcy a good one for the 
company? (D) 

43. If a piece of land is better suited for growing apples 
than for peaches, are there conditions under which it will be 
used for peaches rather than apples? 

44. "It is the privilege of the employee to leave our 
employ whenever he sees fit and it is the privilege of the 
employer to discharge any workman when he sees fit." How 
would labor unions regard this statement? 

45. Profit sharing has been more successful in England 
and France than in the United States. Can you give any 
reasons for this fact? 

46. What are the economic causes of the migration of 
peoples? Give illustrations. 

47. "A Government monopoly is quite apt to be 
actually more oppressive than a private one, because it 
is so much more secure." Do you agree? Explain your 
answer. 

48. Are the following money: (a) an individual's promis- 
sory note; (b) an individual's bank check; (c) a bank 
loan; (d) a Government bond; (e) a postal money order; (/) 
postage stamps; (g) a railroad mileage book; (h) a five- 
dollar bill issued by the Southern Confederacy; (i) an old 
Roman coin; (/) a bar of gold? (D) 

49. "A savings bank accepts deposits." "During the 
panic of 1907, deposits in safety vaults greatly in- 
creased." "The deposits of the First National Bank exceed 
$10,000,000." Of what should you expect the "deposits" 
to consist in each case? (D) 

50. A, B, C, D, and E are banks constituting a clearing- 
house association. On a given day they present checks for 
clearing as follows: 



52 QUESTIONS IN ECONOMICS 

Against A B C D E 

By A $15,250 $19,400 $10,325 $10,150 

B 11,175 17,900 7,500 9,125 

C 20,750 18,100 14,075 12,175 

D 9,250 8,475 13,325 7,100 

E 9,325 7,650 9,175 10,525 

Find: (a) the total amounts due to and by each bank; 
(b) the balance due to or by each bank; (c) the percentage of 
checks settled by offset. In what different ways may the 
balances be settled? (D) 

51. Will the increase in efficiency of all laborers in a certain 
field result in an increase in wages? 

52. "The primary cause of the world-wide advance of 
prices since 1897 is the increase of the gold supply." — Massa- 
chusetts Commission on Cost of Living, igio. Explain this 
statement and mention other causes of higher prices since 

1897. 

53. A reasonable estimate of the cost of mining and market- 
ing anthracite coal in Philadelphia fixes the cost at $4 per ton. 
How do you account for the fact that the consumer pays 
approximately double this amount for his coal? 

54. Retail grocers make a much greater percentage of 
profit on coffee than on sugar. Can you explain why this 
can be done? 

55. "In times of panic, the only sound policy for banks 
... is to lend freely." Why? Why has this policy been 
difficult to pursue previous to 1914? Why is it easier 
now? (D) 

56. The successful business man expects to realize a 
profit on his business after setting aside from his gross profits, 
funds to provide for rent, interest, and depreciation charges. 
Has the laborer a right to expect a wage high enough to 
provide similar safeguards against sickness, old age, unem- 
ployment, etc., in addition to his regular living expenses? 
How high must such a wage be? 



MISCELLANEOUS 53 

57. Which is better for building up an infant industry, a 
bounty system or a tariff system? Why? 

58. By what process, if at all, should you expect the 
following to influence the general price level in United States: 
(a) Advertising; (b) the growth of the trusts; (c) increasing 
demands of trade unions; (d) extravagant purchases of 
automobiles; (e) increased output from South African gold 
mines; (/) wider use of deposit accounts by the French? (D) 

59. What is the connection between the selling prices of 
the following articles: gasoUne, benzine, kerosene, vaseline, 
and parafi&n? 

60. The debtor class, strong in the West, where there was 
much borrowing to develop unworked resources, in 1868 
opposed a contraction of the stock of legal tender. Discuss 
this attitude of the debtor class. 

61. In 1865 the legal tender outstanding amounted to 
$433,000,000, $145 of it exchanged for $100 in gold. What 
was the general relation between the amount of legal tender 
and the rate of depreciation? 

62. "Hundreds of millions of dollars are taken away from 
the United States each year by tourists, by returning immi- 
grants, and to pay interest and dividends on our securities 
held abroad. How can a nation, any m_ore than an individual, 
grow rich if it keeps on paying out more money than it takes 
in?" Criticize. (D) 

63. "A country exports the things which are low in price 
within its borders." Does the United States export crushed 
stone, fresh vegetables, hay, copper? What implications 
are involved in the quoted statement? (D) 

64. In what manner and through what process does the im- 
position of a protective tariff tend to affect (a) truck farmers; 
(b) other farmers; (c) the extent of employment? (D) 

65. The "standard weight" of the gold dollar is to-day 
25.8 grains. Has the "standard weight" always been the 
same? Discuss. 



54 QUESTIONS IN ECONOMICS 

66. Early in 1861 cotton brought 14 cents a pound in Liver- 
pool : at the end of the Civil War it sold for 50 cents in the 
same city. Discuss. 

67. "The principle of protection is to build up our home 
industries by manufacturing our own products. This gives 
our people employment, keeps the money in the country, 
and makes this country an independent and self-reliant 
nation." Wherein are these arguments valid? Wherein 
invahd? Give your reasons. (D) 

68. One million bales of Southern cotton were destroyed 
during the Civil War by the cotton planters. Was this 
destruction economic waste? 

69. Both "free silver" and "free sugar" were demanded 
between 1890 and 1900. Give reasons for each demand. 

70. Corn is produced on the hills of New Hampshire and 
the prairies of Iowa. What differences, if any, should you 
expect in the two places in (a) the price of corn of the 
same quaUty; (b) the cost of producing such corn; (c) 
the rents paid for the land employed in the cultivation of 
the corn? (D) 

71. The price of coal in Italy, March, 1916, was $50 per 
ton; under normal conditions it sells below $10. Explain the 
variation in price. 

72. What class of political thinkers would not agree with 
the implication in the phrase, "The Crime of '73"? 

73. If interest is high so that enterprises are impeded 
would inflation of the currency cure the defect? 

74. Under what conditions, if any, might an effective 
increase in educational facilities lower wages: (a) for certain 
individuals; (6) in general? (D) 

75. The Welsbach burner was, through a patent, a source 
of large monopoly gains. Were these gains socially justifi- 
able? Would you say the same of enhanced profits of a 
public service company resulting from the growth of the 
community? (D) 



MISCELLANEOUS 55 

76. In 1873 the bullion in a silver dollar was worth 102^. 
What effect had this value upon (a) the silversmith's trade; 
(b) the silver offered for coinage at the United States Mint? 

77. Extreme men from both political parties, Republican 
and Democrat, began to secede from their parties in 1875 
and openly advocated _^ai money. What economic conditions 
occasioned this demand? 

78. A has an income of $20,000. It consists of: 

(a) Salary for his work as cashier of a bank . . . $6,000 
(&) Interest on some 5 % bonds of a manufac- 
turing company in his town 3,000 

(c) Dividends on stock of the same company 
paying 8 % on their par value 10,000 

(d) Rent of a farm he owns i ,000 

(A keeps in repair the house and barns on his farm) 

Analyze A's income, showing what part should be called 
wages, what part rent, what part interest, and what part 
profits. 

79. Compare the effects upon wages of extensive saving 
and lavish expenditure. When lavish expenditures are 
suddenly curtailed and the savings invested, what laborers, 
if any, are injured? benefited? (D) 

80. In what stage of development is the business of a 
dressmaker who goes out by the day? Of the dressmaker 
who has her own establishment? The business of shirt- 
waist finishing by women in the tenements? The business 
of the Sorosis Shoe Co.? 

81. Discuss the shoe industry, or the steel manufacturing 
industry, or the meat packing industry of the United States 
from the point of view of (a) division of labor in the manu- 
facture of a single product; (b) the localization of the 
industry; (c) the form of ownership of the plants; (d) the 
extent of combination. 

82. "I cannot understand the stress laid by economists 
on the necessity of checking the growth of population. 



56 QUESTIONS IN ECONOMICS 

Every person born into the world brings with him not only a 
need for goods, but also the power to produce these goods." 
Comment. (D) 

83. The rate of German exchange declined greatly in 191 6. 
If Germany was not seeking outside loans how do you 
account for this? 

84. What is meant by the term, "City planning"? What 
significance for the consumer has this movement? 

85. Give all the reasons why a city should spend part 
of its revenue in providing playgrounds and other recreation 
facilities for the people. 

86. Find out how far the "City planning" movement has 
gone in your state and town. 

87. Is a man justified in protesting against a limitation of 
the working day on the ground that he has a right to work as 
long as he wishes? (D) 

88. Is it advisable to exempt the poorer classes (a) from 
all taxes; (b) from all direct taxes; (c) from taxes on 
incomes? (D) 

89. Take as an example any industry with which you 
are familiar. Suppose you began as an individual owner in 
Massachusetts, (a) Show how you might develop your 
business into a corporation, (b) Show how the growth of 
business might result in your entering into all of the succes- 
sive combinations, and explain the conditions which probably 
would have led you into each combination and the methods 
used in each case. 

90. Suppose you have in your purse a gold piece, a silver 
dollar, a half dollar, some small change, a $20 gold certificate, 
a $5 U. S. note, a dollar bill, a $5 bank note: how would you 
classify these different elements of your supply of currency? 
What gives value — i.e. purchasing power — to each class? 
Why do we have these different sorts of money? Could we 
reduce the number of varieties without crippling our monetary 
system? If so, what changes should you recommend? 



MISCELLANEOUS 57 

91. Report of the condition of an American bank, June 4, 
1913- 

Bank building and fixtures $293,234.42 

Stocks and bonds 645,478.90 

Deposits 6,472,926.43 

Circulation of its own notes 800,000.00 

United States bonds and premiums 851,020.00 

Surplus 600,000.00 

Loans and discounts 5,534,983.27 

Capital stock 800,000.00 

Due from banks 988,006.41 

Cash 586,918.00 

Undivided profits 226,714.57 

Make a statement showing resources and habihties of the 
bank. Show the operation and the result of each of the fol- 
lowing activities of the bank: (a) The bank discounts a note 
for $10,000 for two months at 6%, making one fourth of 
the advance in cash, one fourth in notes on other banks and 
the balance in deposits, (b) The bank declares a dividend 
of 8 %. One fourth of this is paid in cash and three fourths 
is credited to depositors. 

92. What is "deposit currency?" Show by concrete 
illustration how the deposits of a bank originate and increase. 
What insurance does the law give to depositors in our 
National Banks that their claims will be paid upon demand? 

93. If land values are capitalized rent how can the value 
of idle land be found? 

94. Railroads spend large sums for palatial stations. 
What is the economic justification? 

95. Why do locomotive engineers receive considerably 
higher wages than other railroad employees of equal skill? 

96. How do you account for the fact that many National 
Banks have been changed to trust companies? 

97. If a man buys a piece of land, keeps it five years, and 
then sells it at 25 % advance, has he made a good bargain? 



58 QUESTIONS IN ECONOMICS 

98. A man buys a house for $3000 and lets it to a tenant. 
Later he agrees to spend $500 in improvements and the tenant 
agrees to pay ten per cent of the amount spent, every year 
as additional rent; also he agrees to remain in the house ten 
years. Shall the landlord consider that he will be paid back 
in ten years for the improvements, or that he has now made 
an additional investment of $500 on which he is getting a 
yearly interest of 10 per cent? 

99. In endeavoring to determine the income from a 
piece of real estate, which of the following expenditures would 
you consider additional investment and which would you 
subtract from the gross income to get the net income: taxes, 
repairs, depreciation, permanent improvements, additions, 
as piazzas or additional rooms? 

100. In determining the cost value of an article ought a 
charge for the office expenses to be included, or should office 
expenses come out of gross profits? 



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Boutwell's The Constitution of the United States at the End of 

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Eighty-seven important documents upon the development of International 
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Hodgdon's First Course in American History. Book 1 65 

Book II 65 

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Thomas's History of Pennsylvania 75 

Thompson's Primary History of the United States 60 

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Warren's Stories from English History 72 

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Wilson's Compendium of United States and Contemporary 

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Holbrook's Cave, Mound, and Lake Dwellers 40 

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Horton's Group of Famous Women .50 

Inspiring accounts of women who have done deeds worthy of a place in 
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Pratt's America's Story for America's Children — (Grades 4 to 7) 

I. The Beginner's Book 40 

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IV. The Later Colonies 40 

V. The Revolution and the Republic 40 

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Stone and Fickett's Everyday Life in the Colonies 35 

Stone and Fickett's Days and Deeds 100 Years Ago 35 

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High Schoc 



013 722 056 8 ^ 



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.80 
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GRAMMAR 

Allen's Review of English Grammar for Secondary Schools . . 

Such a course as is recommended in the college entrance requirements, 
MacEwan's The Essentials of the English Sentence . 

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Meiklejohn's English Grammar. Revised 

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Sanford and Brown's English Grammar 

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COMPOSITION 
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Duncan, Beck and Graves's Prose Specimens 1.00 

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Williams's Composition and Rhetoric by Practice .90 

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WooUey's Handbook of Composition .75 

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WooUey's Written English. . 1.00 

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Kellow's Practical Training in English .75 

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Spalding's Principles of Rhetoric 1 .00 

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Strang's Exercises in English. Revised .50 

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